Halo: Company of Shadows
by Arlux1313
Summary: The tale of 6 'nonexistant' hyper-lethal SPARTAN III's, and their unconventional allies. They're mission is the same as the rest of the UNSC. Stop the Covenant... By any means necessary.
1. Chapter 1 Betrayal

_Halo: Company of Shadows_

_A story taking place alongside the Halo universe, about a non-existent team of 6 hyper-lethal SPARTAN III's, and few unexpected allies._

Chapter 1: Betrayal

10:30

Eridanus System

Eridanus II

Southern Hemisphere

June 2551

Five SPARTAN III's made their way across what remained of a human city. It was the only place that the Covenant hadn't decided to glass and the Office of Naval Intelligence had sent this group of super soldier's to find out why.

The soldier taking point, had armor painted pure black, with his helmet resembling an infamous shadow warrior from an era long since past. He was pointing his MA5b Assault Rifle straight forward, his M6d standard issue side arm was holstered on his right leg, and on his waist behind his back was a magnum revolver. This SPARTAN always believed in being prepared incase of a long drawn out firefight, and had a large amount of ammunition for his primary, secondary, and tertiary weapon. Behind him, was a SPARTAN whose armor was painted pure white, and had adapted to use the ODST variant of the standard MJOLNIR helmet. His loadout consisted of a pair of SMG's equipped with silencers in both his hands, and a pair of M6d pistols holstered at his sides. He was scanning the area to the left of the man on point, yet so far had not spotted any movement. The SPARTAN in the middle was scanning the area to the right of their point man. his armor was painted steel grey, and he had opted for the CQB MJOLNIR variant for his helmet. He swept the shotgun he carried from one alley to the next, daring anything to jump out at him. The fourth SPARTAN in the formation wasn't carrying a standard UNSC weapon. instead he had a chain gun that looked like it was taken off a Warthog in his hands. Strapped to his back was a SAW heavy assault rifle, and a Spartan Laser. Draped over his chest and along his waist, were various grenades and explosives. He had customised his armor with the EOD MJOLNIR variant of the orginal design that was meant for the SPARTAN II's, and he had painted his armor a dull red. Bringing up the rear of the group was a SPARTAN III who had painted his armor a very dull blue, and had customised his armor with the MJOLNIR Scout variant. He was scanning the rooftops with his SRS92AM UNSC Sniper Rifle. He had a DMR strapped across his back, and like three of his five squadmates, had an M6d pistol holstered at his side.

The SPARTAN taking point stopped, and held his hand up in a closed fist. The signal for his company to halt. The soldier's behind him came to a stop instantly and leveled their weapons in anticipation for a fight.

"Movement ahead." The lead SPARTAN said in an even tone. "Looks like it's on the other side of the building in front of us. Ghost go take a look, tell us what we got." He gestured to the last SPARTAN who nodded, and scaled the building in front of them, using the holes blasted into it by the Covenant during the initial strike. A few minutes passed before Ghost's voice echoed in their headsets.

"Courtyard ahead." Ghost informed them in his scratchy British accent. "Big one, and you were right boss, we got lots of contacts down here. Looks like a standard invasion force. Grunts, Jackals, Elete's, plus a lot of heavy armour. I count five Wraith tanks. Thankfully no Scarabs."

The black armored SPARTAN nodded. "Copy Ghost. Alright men, prepare to en-" He was cut off by Ghost's voice again.

"Hold up boss. I've got Phantoms inbound. At least twenty. They're landing now and... Christ what the hell are those ugly bastards. Azrael you gotta see this, I think we've new Covie species."

The black SPARTAN called Azrael's brow furrowed behind his helmet. "Come again Ghost? A new species of Covenant?" He asked his sniper evidently very confused.

"You heard right boss. New Covies, and the Elete's ain't happy they're here." Ghost replied.

After a few seconds, Azrael nodded. "Alright, we're heading into that building. We observe, but do not engage. We don't know what this new Covie species is capable of, and I don't want anyone taking risks. With Wolf injured, we're a man short, so nobody engages. Texas, Destroyer, I'm serious about this." He said as he looked at the steel colored and red colored SPARTAN's respectively. "Do not engage until I give the order understand?"

Texas and Destroyer responded with a unison "Yes sir."

The group of SPARTAN's then stacked up at the back entrance to the building Ghost had scaled. Azrael and Texas on the left, the white armored SPARTAN and Destroyer on the right. Azrael looked over his shoulder at Texas, and jerked his head, indicating that the shotgun wielding member of their team take point. Texas nodded once, and slowly pushed open the door. After making sure that his entrance was clear, he waved his team inside. Azrael came in first, followed by his white armored squadmate, with Destroyer bringing up the rear. Together they swept the building making sure it was clear, before making their way to the front, so they could peer out the window's and get a better understanding of the unfolding situation.

"Holy hell, what the fuck are those?" The white armored SPARTAN said in a tone between surprise and disgust.

"Whatever they are Blitz." Azrael responded. "Ghost was right. They are ugly motherfuckers."

The Covenant species in the courtyard that had gotten out of the Phantoms, were nothing that the UNSC had seen before. They were a head taller than the Elete's, much more muscular, with thick fur covering their entire body, and a mouthful of razor sharp fangs. In the center of the courtyard, what looked like the leader of this group of furry Covenant, had gotten into an argument with an Elete clad in golden colored armor.

"Looks like Goldie over there ain't too happy that King Kong and his monkey's showed up." A southern drawl said over the team channel.

"Copy that Texas." Azrael responded. "Tensions seem high between these two. Looks like their about ready to rip each other's heads off at any second."

Almost immediately after Azrael spoke, the Elete's opened fire on 'King Kong' and his 'monkeys.' They in response returned fire. However the Elete's combat prowess was no match for the 'monkeys' numbers, and in the ensuing skirmish, several Elete's were quickly cut down, until the 'Goldie' roared, and the remaining Elete's retreated to the building's to Azrael and his team's left.

"Alright! Time to see if these ugly fucks can stand up to and onslaught of .50 cal shells!" Destroyer exclaimed, as he stood and brought his chain gun to bear. But was quickly brought back down by Azrael.

"Stand down Destroyer!" Azrael ordered.

"But Az, we can-"

"Trust me, I want the chance to see how durable these ugly bastards are too, but We're gonna follow the Elete's."

"Why?"

"Because something tells me they're leaders just betrayed them. Our mission is to find out what the Covenant are doing here, and those Elete's are going to tell us what."

Ghost's voice chimed in over the team's headsets. "And just how are you going to manage that boss?"

Behind his helmet, Azrael smirked. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."


	2. Chapter 2 The enemy of my enemy

Chapter 2: The enemy of my enemy

11:00

Eridanus System

Eridanus II

Southern Hemisphere

June 2551

Tracking the Elite's had proved easier than Azrael had thought. It seemed that one of their warriors was hit, and by the blood trail the SPARTAN's were following, hit pretty damn bad. Azrael had ordered ghost to stay put, so he could keep an eye on what those new ugly Covies were up to. The good news was that they gave orders just like the Elite's. The bad news was that it looked as if they were mobilizing.

"Probably sending out hunter/killer teams looking to finish the job." Azrael mused. "Keep me posted Ghost." An acknowledgement light blinked on his HUD.

Several minutes later, the purple-ish blood trail led the team up a flight of stone steps, to the entrance of a rather large building. From what Azrael guessed, it was a hotel once upon a time.

"Gotta hand it to these split-lips. They have nice taste." Destroyer scoffed. "Probably wanted to get their boy somewhere comfortable before he dies."

"I don't think they're thinking about comfort more than tactical position." Azrael corrected. "Only one main road that's too narrow for all those tanks to fit in a wide coverage pattern. They'll have to come one by one. There is no good position on this street to get sniper support on the hotel, so the Jackals are useless. It's a decent place for a last stand."

The SPARTAN's carefully made their way inside. Taking note of their surroundings, Azrael's earlier guess at this building once being a hotel was correct. To his left was a reception desk, that was made of what looked like oak wood. There were old scorch marks, and dried human blood stains on both the desk and the wall behind it. To his right, and on the other side of the room were plush sofas and chairs. And dead center of the room was a fountain, although the water in it had long since evaporated. Undoubtedly due to the heat of the Covenant ship's plasma weapons when they began glassing Eridanus II. The power to the hotel had also been out for some time, probably due to the glassing, so everything was cast in shadow. And everything was covered in a fine layer of dust, with the exception of the drag marks that the Elites made when they helped their injured companion inside. That was another thing that Azrael made a note of, noticing that the blood stains were getting larger. the further into the shadows of the lobby the drag marks went.

"Not a good sign. The son of a bitch is gonna bleed to death." Azrael sighed.

His comment was met with snarls, and the sound and sight of plasma swords activating, and Elite's in various armor shades deactivating their camouflage. In that same moment, the sound of safeties snapping off, and rounds sliding into weapon chambers echoed around the room, as the now four man squad leveled their weapons.

"Not before you bleed to death Demons!" A deep voice growled from the shadows, as the golden Elite from earlier stepped out from the shadows, twin plasma swords in his hands.

Azrael held his ground, even as his grip on his Assault Rifle tightened. "You have a bigger problem than just the four of us. Whatever those big, furry, ugly monkeys are that you picked a fight with are mobilizing to finish you off."

This news was received with even louder snarls, as the Elites looked towards the main road. Sure enough, there were the Wraith tanks moving in a slow single file position. "Looks like King Kong, and his tribe of monkeys zeroed in on our position." That time Azrael's insult had gotten a dry bark of a laugh from the Golden Elite. "Now listen we don't have much time until those tanks are within firing range. I'm not thrilled about this proposal, but if you want to survive this, then we have to work together."

Once again the Elites growled, but their leader silenced them with a growl of his own, yet his stance was still tense and his grip around his plasma swords tightened. "You are proposing that my men and I surrender Demon. I would rather take my chances with the Jiralhane."

Azrael shook his head. "Then you have the same problem, only with less ammunition, and less chance for not only your survival, but your injured comrade."

The Elite remained silent for a moment before speaking again. "Very well Demon. We'll surrender. But not to your army, not to the other humans in your military, but to _you._"

Behind his helmet Azrael smirked. "Deal. Now we have to get ready quick. Those tanks are going to start firing any second." He said before contacting his sniper. "Ghost. I need you to switch position. Find a spot downwind of our location."

Ghost's familiar British accent came over the team's channel a second later. "Copy sir. Moving out."

Azrael then turned to his three remaining SPARTAN's. "Destroyer target the tanks. We take out the heavy armor early, they can't bring this place down on top of us." The red armored soldier nodded, before Azrael turned to Blitz. "The second the first wraith is taken out, you go into the heart of the formation. Take out as many as you can." A light blinked on his HUD in acknowledgement. He then turned to Texas. "You're gonna have the hardest job here Texas. You're providing support for that injured Elite, and guarding this entrance. Nothing gets past you."

Texas tightened his grip on his shotgun. He wasn't thrilled about being on guard duty for an injured split-lip, but if he was the best chance for that things survival, he wasn't going to question his orders. "Understood sir."

Finally the commanding SPARTAN turned his attention towards the golden armored Elite. "You and your men are part of my team now. That means you follow my orders. You watch my back I'll watch yours understand?" The Elite nodded. "Good. Now we're gonna be right behind Blitz when the first Wrath is taken out. Your Elites are going to provide covering fire. Your orders are to kill anything that moves. Understand Elite?"

"Rittas." The golden Elite said causing Azrael to tilt his head in confusion. "My name is Rittas. Rittas Vordum. And when I find the Jiralhane that you called… 'King Kong,' I will be the one to take his head." He snarled causing Azrael to huff slightly in respect.

"Alright Rittas, he's yours." He then turned to Destroyer. "Alright kick us off."


	3. Chapter 3 Kick it off

Chapter 3: Kick it off

_This chapter I'll be focusing on the story from the perspectives of the other SPARTAN's. Most notibly Ghost, Destroyer, and Blitz._

Destroyer smirked as he set down his chain gun, took out the Spartan Laser strapped across his back, and took aim at the lead Wraith tank. "Hope you're ready for some fireworks." He said excitedly, as he was finally getting to do what he did best.

Blow shit up.

He leveled the laser carefully and pulled the trigger. After a few seconds of charging, an energy beam of red death shot from the barrel of the heavy weapon, and impacted on the tank's armor. The resulting explosion killed both gunners on the tank, as well as any Covenant that was standing too close.

"Tank neutralized boss. Blitz is clear to go."

Azrael nodded once, and turned to the white armored SPARTAN. "Go."

Blitz ran out of the hotel. nothing but a white blur. Yet however fast he was going, to him it seemed that everything was passing at 1% it's normal speed. With his twin SMG's leveled, he opened fire on any Covenant in his way. Grunts and Jackals were mowed down in the blink of an eye, although those brutish looking monkeys took a little more to put them down, they still went died all the same. Moving past the wreckage of the first Wraith, Blitz leapt up onto the second, right in front of the gunner. Yet there was only a second for the gunner to react, before Blitz aimed one of his silenced SMG's at the furry bastards face and pulled the trigger. It's head exploded in a shower of blood, gore, bone, and bullets.

"Gunner on the second tank is down." Blitz said with an even tone, even though he was smirking behind his helmet, and had been since he got the order to move out.

With a roar, one of the furry Covenant, ordered someone or something to fire at Blitz, but a second later he was gone. Through the slow speed of how the world was moving due to how fast he was, Blitz saw whatever was ordered to shoot him was lying in the shadows.

"Ghost." Blitz contacted the team's sniper. "We have Jackals with sniper rifles in the alleyways."

Now it was Ghost's turn to smirk behind his helmet. "Copy Blitz." He took aim through his rifle, scanned for his target, and almost laughed when he saw them. "Ten of them all grouped together. They're dumber than I thought."

He zoomed to the maximum magnification on his sniper and exhaled before he fired. The Jackals heads exploded as the large armor piercing rounds tore through their pointed ugly heads. Within a few seconds, the ten Jackals were reduced to headless corpses bleeding on the pavement, and all the while Ghost was singing a sick little song.

"One little, two little, three little snipers." He sang as he took aim at the next group. "Four little, five little, six little snipers." He reloaded and took aim and the next batch of targets. "Seven little, eight little, nine little snipers." He informed Blitz of the situation, in the same little sing-song voice. "No more snipers left."

Out of the line of fire, Blitz shuddered a bit. "Did I ever tell you I hate it when you do that?" Ghost just chuckled.

After Blitz informed on the death of the gunner, Destroyer took aim at the second Wraith. Not that he needed Blitz's help in taking out the tank. His love of seeing things be blown to hell is what earned him his codename. He took aim at the second tank, and after the laser charged for a second time, the second beam of red death shot out and turned the next Wraith in the formation into a smoldering slag heap. He huffed slightly, very satisfied with his work so far. Two down. One to go. He chuckled and sighted on the last Wraith.

"Smile you son of a bitch." He growled as the laser fired for the third time. And for the third time a Wraith was blasted into pieces. "Heavy armor neutralized boss."

After Blitz turned into nothing but a white armored blur, Azrael and Rittas ran down the steps of the hotel straight towards their enemies. They were closely followed by a hail of plasma, as the Elites within covered their backs. Those Covenant, that weren't shredded by Blitz's SMG's, blasted away by Azrael's Assault Rifle, or sliced in half by Rittas' plasma swords, were melted by a hail of plasma fire.

Then a white flash blinded Azrael, and he was thrown back into the wreckage of the first Wraith. A moment after the blur in his vision faded, a giant furry Covenant monster stood above him with a plasma pistol pointed at his head. Rittas roared in challenge and charged at the brutish creature, but it simply kicked the golden armored Elite aside and turned back to Azrael.

However Azrael had done something that the brute didn't expect, he tackled it to the ground. Pinning the arm that held the plasma pistol down with his left hand, he began repeatedly punching the creature's head. The first several punches cracked the creatures skull, the next shattered it, and the punch after that turned the creatures skull into a bloody bony pulp.

As he got up, another furry brute charged at him, but never got there as Rittas tackled this one. However unlike Azrael, he impaled the brute with the energy sword in his left hand. However there was no time for the Human and Sangheili to celebrate their small victory, as another brute walked towards them holding a large nasty looking hammer. Both Human and Sangheili recognized this as the leader of those brutish monkeys that had attacked and injured one of Rittas' comrades.

King Kong

Yet by the time Kong made his presence known, all of his brutes had been taken down by Azrael and his SPARTAN's and Rittas' Elites. Needless to say Kong wasn't just angry. He was furious.

**-Authors note-**

**Hope you enjoyed the story so far. If you have any ideas or questions for me, don't hesitate to ask. I am also a fairly new writer, so I would also except any constructive criticism. Again thank you for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4 Bugging out

Chapter 4. Bugging out

Kong roared as he raised his hammer. Rittas returned this roar, as he leveled his energy swords. Azrael raised his rifle to Kong's head.

"No Demon." Rittas growled. "This is my fight."

"Boss." Ghost's voice cracked over the com channel. "Remember I said there were five Wraith's. Only three were taken out. The other two are moving to your position."

Azrael bit back a curse. "Alright. Ghost keep us posted. Destroyer, you're still on demo duty." Two acknowledgement lights blinked on in his HUD, as Azrael turned to the golden Elite. "He's yours." He jerked his head to Kong.

Rittas roared and charged at Kong, who returned both the gesture. Kong brought his hammer down, but Rittas simply stepped aside. To Azrael's shock, the hammer upon impact with the ground produced a sizeable shockwave. Rittas swung the energy blade in his left hand across Kong's chest. Only the tip of the plasma sword raked across the large Covenant's chest, but it was enough to cause him pain. Kong swung his large hammer, but Rittas ducked again, and swipped both swords across his enemies legs. Kong's legs buckled, and Rittas kicked Kong in the chest.

While Rittas was busy with his enemy, Azrael waved Blitz and Destroyer forward. The white and red SPARTAN's moved slowly towards their commanding officer, giving Rittas and Kong a wide berth. The three SPARTAN's then moved down the street, until they saw the remaining two Wraith tanks. They were moving forward, making their way forward towards the hotel.

"Destroyer, how much charge is left on that rifle?" Azrael asked.

"Enough for one of the tanks, but not both." Destroyer replied.

"Well you're the explosives expert, you have any satchel charges? C4?"

Destroyer scoffed. "You're asking? Boss that's insulting."

"Give whatever sticky explosives you have to Blitz. He's gonna move in once the first tank is down. We're gonna provide cover fire for him." The red and white SPARTAN's noded, as Destroyer handed his C4 over to Blitz. "Alright Blitz, as soon as that laser fires you're on the move. Stick that Wraith, and blast it to hell. Ghost, anymore infantry movement?"

"Affirmative Sir." Ghost replied over the com channel. "Fifty plus foot mobiles heading your way backing up those tanks."

"Copy Ghost." Azrael said. "Okay lets hit those tanks now, that infantry is gonna be a pain in the ass without those tanks. Destroyer, get into position and hit that tank."

Destroyer looked down the scope of his laser, sighted on the tank, and pulled the trigger. The weapon built up its final charge, and shot out it's last beam. It impacted on the lead tank, and the Covenant armor vanished in a plume of purple fire. The second Destroyer fired, Blitz made a beeline for the second tank. He was moving far too fast for the gunner on the Wraith's plasma turret to get a clear shot. He stuck three C4 charges on both sides and back of the last remaining tank, and was far enough away by the time he hit the detonation switch, that the resulting and rather large explosion did no damage to the white armored SPARTAN.

"Second tank neutralized." Blitz confirmed. "Move up guys. Repeat you're clear to move up."

The black and red SPARTAN's nodded in affirmation, and quickly closed in, as did the remaining Covenant infantry. Plasma shots were exchanged with gunfire. Unfortunately for the Covenant infantry, quantity cant replace quality, and they were quickly cut down by a hail of 7.62 mm and 50 caliber shells. All by a near invisible white SPARTAN, a man with a serious love for explosions, and their squad leader who the Covenant had come to call the 'Angel of death.'

"Infantry neutralized." Azrael said evenly. "I wonder how Rittas is doing?"

His question was answered by a loud angry roar, and the sight of a Phantom dropship flying off.

"Looks like Kong bugged out." Destroyer chimed in, as the barrel of his chaingun smoked.

Azrael nodded and made his way back towards the Golden armored Elite, who was furious that his enemy had fled.

"The coward ran!" Rittas spat.

"He's probably going to get backup." Azrael replied, to which Rittas shook his head.

"No, all the Brutes he had with him he brought here. And you and your demons slaughtered them all."

At Rittas' words, something grabbed Azrael's leg. The SPARTAN in black whirled around, and saw the Brute Rittas had stabbed in the chest earlier. The hairy Covenant roared weakly but defiantly, even as Azrael placed his boot on its chest to pin it down. With his left hand, Azrael reached up and removed his helmet, revealing a face with slightly darkened skin, black hair cut to military regulation, and a set of shockingly dark almost black eyes. Azrael's right hand grabbed his revolver, and he leveled it at the Brute's head.

"When you get to Hell, tell the devil you met your end at my hand." He said as he pulled the hammer back, and pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through the Brute's skull, and splattered the ground, and part of Azrael's cheek with the creature's odd colored blood.

Ghosts voice cracked over the com line after Azrael had replaced his helmet. "Boss, did I ever tell you you're a sadistic bastard?"

"All the time." Azrael replied. "Now get down here." He then turned to Rittas, who nodded his approval.

"Impressive demon. Very impressive."

"Glad you approve. Now lets get out of here."

Rittas noded. "I will call our ship."

"Just out of curiosity. How big is the ship in-" Azrael was cut off when Rittas' ship exited slipspace above the still intact piece of city.

A Covenant Capital Ship.

"Time to go." Rittas said, as the gravity lift to the capital ship activated.


End file.
